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HOLLAND, MI -- To end any season with a win is rare, especially when competing for a national championship.
Saturday, the Williams women's basketball team did just that. Making it an even more memorable experience, the six senior Ephs will forvever remember their final win was over rival Amherst.
Senior Danny Rainer posted a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds while classmate Jennie Harding added 12 as Williams outlasted the Lord Jeffs, 57-53, in the NCAA Div. III Tournament championship consolation game at DeVos Fieldhouse on the campus of Hope College.
"It was for the six seniors today," said Rainer. "It was nice to beat Amherst, but more than that, we wanted to go out feeling great about ourselves and feeling great about our program."
Williams finished the season 27-6, extending its single-season record for wins. In addition, the six seniors - Rainer, Harding, Claire Baecher, Grace Rehnquist, Jen Borderud and Stephanie Browne - extended their career wins by a class record to 87.
It's the best finish ever in the 39 years of the Williams College women's basketball program.
"Today was a typical Amherst-Williams basketball game," Ephs' head coach Pat Manning said. "It was a slugfest, a defensive battle and both teams just went after it. I'm just so proud of our seniors to go out with a win like this. This one is extra sweet because it's over a rival who has kind of dominated us in their four years."
The Ephs trailed by three at the half Saturday but outscored Amherst 36-29 over the final 20 minutes getting 19 points combined for Rainer and Harding. Claire Baecher and Ellen Cook each had six points.
Williams hit its last 15 free throws over the final six minutes of the game and went 25 for 30 (83.3 percent) for the game. The game was in doubt however, when sophomore starter Kellie Macdonald fouled out with 8:34 remaining.
However, Manning received key contributions off the bench from first-years Katie Litman and Oge Uwanaka, not to mention Rehnquist.
Williams went up for good with 6:05 remaining when Rainer sank two attempts from the foul line for a 40-38 advantage. Harding then grabbed a defensive rebound down on the baseline, hustled up the court and drove through the lane, hitting the lay-up while getting fouled. She connected on the ensuing free throw for a five-point Williams lead with 5:19 remaining.
It was 45-42 Williams when Litman made a key basket from the paint with 2:05 to go, extending the lead back to five. After another Rainer rebound on the defensive end - she had seven in the second half while the Ephs were holding Amherst to 23.5 percent shooting (8 of 34) from the floor -- Harding knocked down two more free throws to give Williams its largest lead of the game at seven points with 1:33 remaining.
It stayed at seven until 40 seconds remained. That's when Marcia Voight - who led all scorers with 26 points -- sank a short jumper to make it 53-48 Williams. After a Williams turnover, Amherst's Jasmine Hardy was fouled on a three-point attempt with 27 seconds left remaining and hit all three attempts, cutting the deficit to two at 53-51.
A pair of Baecher free throws made it 55-51 Williams with 18 ticks to go, but Voight sliced through the Eph defense seven seconds later to make it 55-53. With nine seconds left, Williams threw the ball out of bounds, giving Amherst the ball with a chance to win or tie. Voight drove to the basket on the left block, but Litman picked up a key charge call -- and a bloody nose in the process with five seconds left in the game. Two seconds later, Cook was fouled on the inbounds and sank two free throws to seal the game for Williams.
The Ephs held Amherst to 24.3 percent shooting (17 of 70) from the floor in the game, and 0 for 10 from beyond the three-point arc. In addition, the Ephs outrebounded Amherst 25-20 in the second half and tied them 42-42 for the game.
"We talked today about how this was going to be a game about mental toughness," Manning said. "Both teams were disappointed last night in games that went down to the wire. I give a lot of credit to Amherst, they fought every possession until the last possession, but even when we weren't scoring and they wrre killing us on the boards, somehow we were hanging in there. We got some key contributions from our first years off the bench, but today, everyone was playing for the seniors. We all wanted this for our seniors."
Baecher had eight points, eight rebounds and four blocks in her final game. Rainer added two blocks and an assist to her 13-point-12-rebound night. Rehnquist had seven points while Litman had four points and three assists in 12 minutes.
"We talked about having fun in our last game," Harding said. "We wanted to remember this, and beating Amherst in our final game, it couldn't get better."
Williams trailed at the half, 24-21, as Voight struck for 12 points on 4 of 10 shooting from the floor. The Jeffs were superior on the boards again to the tune of a 22-17 advantage while the Ephs trouble with turnovers continued with 12 in the opening 20 minutes.
Amherst jumped out to a 6-4 lead and the game stalled there for 4 minutes and 45 seconds until Crowley hit a short jumper in the paint with 10:52 remaining. Macdonald answered with a short jumper of her own but Amherst continued to take advantage of their talent on the offensive glass to keep possessions alive and build a 14-8 lead.
Rehnquist brought the Ephs back, hitting a couple of long-range shots, one a three-pointer, to make it a 14-13 contest, and a couple of Rainer three throws with 5:22 remaining gave Williams its first lead at 15-14.
Voight answered with two of her freebies to make it 18-17 Amherst and a free throw from Haley Zwecker and another jumper from Voight made it 21-17 Amherst. The Jeffs shot only 25 percent from the floor in the opening stanza (9 for 36), while Williams took 16 less shots but made 35 percent (7 of 20).
